Deidre Hill Butler, an associate professor of sociology at Union College in Schenectady, New York, has been assigned a new role as director of diversity, equity, and inclusion and academic chief diversity officer.
Dr. Butler is a graduate of Oberlin College in Ohio. She earned a master’s degree at Cornell University and a Ph.D. at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Belinda Robnett was hired as the inaugural vice chancellor for the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She was the inaugural associate dean for faculty development and diversity in the School of Social Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. Earlier she served as undergraduate director in the sociology department and as the African American studies program director at the University of California, Irvine.
Dr. Robnett is a graduate of Stanford University, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree in education from Harvard University and a master’s degree in psychology from Princeton University. Dr. Robneett earned a third master’s degree and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Michigan.
Sonia Rucker, assistant to the president for equity and diversity and dean of students at Southeast Missouri State University, has been appointed vice president for equity, access, and behavioral health.
Rucker holds a master’s degree in educational psychology from Texas A&M University-Central Texas in Killeen.

Carlisle is a graduate of Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. She earned a juris doctorate from New England Law in Boston.


